Anonymous Checkout System Using Payment Tokenization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated checkout systems in retail environments face challenges in protecting customer privacy while efficiently processing payments and tracking interactions with products, as they often require direct access to personal and payment information, leading to security risks and privacy concerns.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that uses a computer system with sensors to receive payment account information, generate tokens for anonymous transactions, and track customer interactions without storing personal data, ensuring privacy by encrypting and deleting sensitive information post-transaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If automated checkout systems collect and store personal and payment information, then payment processing and customer identification can be achieved, but privacy concerns and security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts sensitive personal information from the automated checkout system by using tokenization - replacing actual payment account details with anonymous tokens that cannot be reverse-engineered to identify the customer, thus removing the harmful element while preserving payment functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary token as a mediator between the customer's payment account and the store's billing system. This token serves as a secure bridge that enables payment processing without exposing sensitive personal information to the store's computer system
2Measurement precision
If sensors track customer interactions with products, then automated billing accuracy improves, but customer privacy protection deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates anonymous copies of customer interaction data that capture behavioral patterns and purchase information without containing personally identifiable information. The sensors track interactions with precision, but the resulting data is decoupled from customer identity through the tokenization framework
3Ease of operation
If personal information is stored for future transactions, then customer service and returns are facilitated, but data breach risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable tokens that are inexpensive and can be easily regenerated or replaced. Each transaction or customer visit can use a new token, making the system resilient to data breaches since compromised tokens can be discarded and new ones generated without affecting the core payment account information
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for anonymous checkout in a store. One of the methods includes receiving, by a computer system of the store, information associated with a payment account of a person; sending, by the computer system to a server associated with a payment system, the received information associated with the payment account of the person; receiving, by the computer system from the server associated with the payment system, a token associated with the payment account of the person; receiving, by the computer system from a plurality of sensors, data associated with the person; extracting, by the computer system based on the received data associated with the person, a plurality of features of the person; and storing, by the computer system, the received token in correspondence with information associated with the extracted features of the person.